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Workers Banned From Using USB Sticks at IBM

posted by mrpg on Saturday May 12 2018, @11:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the man-nc dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

[...] The possibility of "financial and reputational" damage if staff lost or misused the devices prompted the decision, reported The Register.

Instead, IBM staff who need to move data around will be encouraged to do so via an internal network.

[...] Some IBM departments had been banned from using removable portable media for some time, said Ms Naidoo, but now the decree was being implemented worldwide. IBM staff are expected to stop using removable devices by the end of May.

[...] Security expert Kevin Beaumont said: "It is a brave move by IBM, as USB devices do present a real risk - often it is very easy to extract data from a company via these devices, and introduce malicious software."

[...] Sumir Karayi, chief executive of security company 1E, said IBM's ban was an "overreaction" by security staff who had not realised the many different ways data flowed in and out of an organisation.

[...] On 25 May, the GDPR rules are enacted, which impose heavy fines on organisations that do not do enough to protect sensitive information.

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  • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday May 14 2018, @12:24AM (1 child)

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday May 14 2018, @12:24AM (#679373) Journal

    I'm talking about moving files from computer A to computer B in the same organization. And lets be honest, who's moving around 45GB of data in an org aside from IT? And yes, that excludes OBVIOUS use cases like video or other large data sets that you wouldn't trust to walmart usb drives. Data packets we get at work rarely come in from USB sticks, only once did we get files on an encrypted drive with a pass code. Everything is now securely hosted or encrypted archives downloaded from the net now.

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  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Monday May 14 2018, @06:03PM

    by Pino P (4721) on Monday May 14 2018, @06:03PM (#679677) Journal

    I'm talking about moving files from computer A to computer B in the same organization.

    If computer B is in the field, as opposed to in the office, the cellular last mile to computer B can become expensive.